Japanese maples are in fact Japanese in origin, occurring naturally in Korea and China as well.
The low, mounded shape of the tree, along with its attractive color varieties and leaf varieties,
have made it enormously popular throughout the world. Numerous cultivars are available.

Identification: These small trees do not exceed 25' (7.6 m) in
height or width.
Because they grow slowly, they often appear as rounded shrubs. Foliage may be purple or green.
Leaves have 5-9 lobes.
Flowers are small, red or purple.

From left to right A. palmatum wild type, A. palmatum ‘Amoenum’, and A. palmatum ‘Matsumurae’ (‘Dissectum’ is similar to ‘Matsumurae’). By Abrahami.

Online References:

Acer palmatum on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants